Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com
Bashundhara Kings became the first team in history to lift four consecutive Bangladesh Premier League titles when they beat Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra 6-4 in their second-leg match at the Bashundhara Sports Complex in the city on Friday.
Kings also won the titles in the previous three editions of the league in 2019, 2021, and 2022. In the past, only Abahani Limited had won the league in three successive seasons since the inception of the BPL in 2007.
Kings’ 15th win of the season gave them an unassailable lead of 12 points over six-time champions and second-placed Abahani after 17 matches, with three more matches to go.
After Friday’s win, Kings have 46 points with 15 wins, one draw, and one loss. On the other hand, Abahani, who played out a 1-1 draw against Mohammedan Sporting Club in the day’s other game in Cumilla, have 34 points with 10 wins, four draws, and three losses.
Brazilian forward Dorielton Gomes was the star of Kings’ win by scoring four goals in the sixth, 50th, 66th, and 76th minutes as the cash-rich outfit went to the first-half break with a 3-2 lead, with another Brazilian forward Robson Azevedo and local midfielder Shekh Morsalin scoring the other two goals in stoppage time of the first half.
For Sheikh Russel, their Nigerian forward Kenneth Ikechukwu scored twice in the 69th minute and in the 90th minute, after forwards Sujan Biswas (26th minute) and Dipok Roy (38th minute) scored once each.
Kings Spanish coach Oscar Bruzon, who is the architect of their all four titles, was ecstatic after his team’s rare achievement and believed that now it was time for his club to look beyond the domestic circuit.
‘Probably we are the best team in the domestic competitions in Bangladesh. But there are a lot of things to be done before the AFC Champions League. Indian teams are now ahead of us… I think now we have to work a lot on it,’ Bruzon told the reporters after the day’s game.
‘It was a tough season…We had to deal with many things, players’ national engagements, injuries, and so on. This is a team success, and I am happy with this, winning the BPL and Independence Cup, we can be satisfied with it this season,’ he added.
In Cumilla, Malian forward Souleymane Diabate gave Mohammedan the lead in stoppage time of the first half by converting a penalty before Abahani’s Costa Rican forward Daniel Colindres equalised in the in the 83rd minute, also from the penalty spot.
In the day’s other game at the Birshreshtha Flight Lt Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj, Chittagong Abahani forward Emtiyaz Rahims scored the match winning goal in the 85th minute against Azampur Football Club Uttara.